Mt Adams-July 25-28, 2016

Last year was the first time I had hiked the Killeen Trail up to High Camp on the north flank of Mt Adams. My friend Olga and I decided, at that time, that it was worth a return trip. So, this summer we did it again and included three more friends - my granddaughter Natalie, Olga's daughter Katya, and a first time backpacker, Julie Reed. 

Here we are - clean and ready to go. 

The drive to the trailhead via hwy 141 through the tiny town of Trout Lake is very peacefull an picturesque. Mt Adams frequently peeks out from behind the trees as one drive to the trailhead. 

The first two miles of the trail pass through dense forest where Olga's eagle eyes spotted many mushrooms (in truth, Olga is happiest when she is mushroom hunting). 

We had a nausea causality when Natalie announced she might "lose it all".  She's on the left trying to recover. Julie, in a show of unity, is on the right. 

We finally reached the meadow areas with flowers, little streams, and mountain views. We were excited to get out of the woods. 

Another uphill mile or so, we reached the junction with the Pacific Crest Trail - you'd almost think we were through hikers. 

Up until this point the trail had been unceasingly uphill. Now we got to experience rocks and  boulders. Up we go!

We had planned to go all the way to High Camp.........but it didn't look like we'd make it - it was getting late, tiredness and sore thighs were taking their toll. Our goal was High Camp so we called this "Almost Camp". 

Free time

It wasn't a particularly scenic spot, but there were good views to the north. 

Here is Mt Rainer peeking through through morning clouds

Here is Rainer on our second morning with fewer clouds in the valley. 

Rainer at midday

Sunset 

Almost Camp had no stream, but there were two patches of snow that we mined  to get our water. 

I'd never needed to melt snow for our water so this was a good 'survival' experience. I was glad I'd taken a new canister of fuel rather than a partial one with just enough fuel to prepare our meals- melting snow uses a lot of gas. After getting enough water for dinner, we filled our water purifier bag with snow and hung it on a branch it in the sun.  The solar power was slower but effective. 

The morning of the second day we headed up to High Camp - steep and sometimes we needed to crawl over boulders. Getting closer to the top we had to cross hillsides of slippery scree. 

And then we reached the spacious area of High Camp. 

Rainer to the north

Mt St Helen to the west

And Adams behind us

Pictures of us and our friend Adam

Photos of us and our friend Adam

The day's agenda included lunch, snoozing, reading, and viewing. 

Snow art and art appreciation 

High hat fashion soon to be copied by British royalty. 

Had we camped at High Camp this would have been our water source. 

The afternoon gradually came to a close. I mean, how long can you endure sitting on a mountainside in extreme beauty and in full sun. 

Back to camp with no incidents. Well....maybe one when Julie and I went right instead of left and ended up in an unexplored ravine. But with dead reckoning and a cross country scramble we made it back to Almost Camp unscathed. 

Dinner, breakfast, break camp, downhill for six miles, ice cream at Cascade Locks and we were back in the lowlands of Oregon City. 

Prize winning photo